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THE 


LIBERIAN  REPUBLIC 


■;  .  '  $ 
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AS  IT  IS. 


j}uplicsie' 


BY 


GEORGE  K.  STETSON, 


BOSTON. 


BOSTON  : 

PUBLISHED  BY  A.  WILLIAMS  &  CO., 
283  Washington  Street, 

1881. 


Single  copies,  ten  cents.  Six  dollars  per  hundred. 


\  C 

AS  j  * c  ^  — 


THE 


LIBERIAN  REPUBLIC 

AS  IT  IS. 


BY 

GEORGE  R.  STETSON, 

BOSTON. 


BOSTON  : 

PUBLISHED  BY  A.  WILLIAMS  &  CO., 
283  Washington  Street, 
i  88  i. 


NOTE. 


The  greater  part  of  this  pamphlet  originally  appeared  as  an  article 
on  Liberia,  in  the  New  York  Herald  December  24,  1880. 

The  article  is  reprinted  in  this  form,  with  some  additional  details, 
at  the  request  of  gentlemen,  who,  having  an  intimate  acquaintance 
with  the  present  condition  of  the  colored  people,  both  here  and  in 
Liberia,  think  the  time  has  come  when  the  interests  of  that  people 
demand  that  emigration  to  the  African  Coast,  excepting  for  those 
already  prepared,  or  intending  to  be  there  prepared,  by  training  and 
education  to  take  part  in  the  work  of  evangelization,  should  be 
publicly  discouraged. 


•  1 

T  homas  &  Evans,  Printers,  9,  n  &  13  S.  Holliday  Street,  Baltimore,  Md. 


WHAT  IS  THE  TRUTH? 


What  is  the  truth?  is  a  question  usually  more  easily  asked  than 
answered.  In  the  case  before  us,  however,  the  difficulty  lies  not  so 
much  in  making  an  intelligible  and  exact  answer  as  in.  making  an 
agreeable  and  satisfactory  one  to  the  friends  of  African  colonization. 

At  irregular  periods  we  see  in  the  newspapers,  statements  of  facts 
unfavorable  to  the  Republic  of  Liberia  as  a  field  for  emigration ;  and 
as  frequently  as  these  statements  appear  they  are  denied,  either  by 
some  over-zealous  friend,  or  by  the  officials  of  the  American  Colo¬ 
nization  Society.  The  result  is,  of  course,  extremely  confusing  to 
the  public*  mind  ;  and  the  casual  reader  who  has  no  particular  inter¬ 
est  in  the  subject,  and  does  not  investigate  for  himself,  has  either  no 
opinion  at  all,  or,  if  any,  an  erroneous  one. 

Fortunately  the  facts  are  at  hand,  easily  accessible  to  all  who 
care  to  know  them,  and  furnished  abundantly  by  friends  and  foes; 
to  these  facts  I  propose  to  appeal  for  an  exact  understanding  of  the 
present  condition  and  future  prospects  of  the  Republic  of  Liberia. 

In  the  statements  made,  and  circulars  sent  out  by  those  interested  in 
stimulating  emigration,  as  well  as  in  the  public  addresses,  a  part  of  the 
truth  is  only  told.  The  luxuriance  of  vegetation,  the  fertility  and  adapt¬ 
ability  of  the  soil  to  the  purposes  of  cultivation,  the  climate  of  perpetual 
summer,  the  political  and  social  independence  to  be  enjoyed  under  a 
government  framed  by  the  negro,  for  the  negro,  and  a  constitution 
which,  by  disfranchising  the  white  man,  forever  protects  the  negro 
from  that  bar  to  his  progress  in  his  path  of  destiny  and  enables  him 
to  work  out  the  salvation  of  his  race  untrammelled  by  foreign  influ¬ 
ence:  these  advantages  are  portrayed  in  such  colors  as  the  imagina¬ 
tion  of  the  writer  or  speaker  can  command.  It  is  the  truth  ;  but  not 
the  whole  truth, 


4 


Rev.  C.  W.  Thomas  has  well  said,  referring  to  the  results  of  coloni¬ 
zation  in  Africa: — “  We  would  not  be  understood  as  attributing  any 
unworthy  motive  to  the  zealous  friends  of  the  Americo- African  in 
Liberia  :  they  are  noble  and  liberal  men ;  but  we  wish  to  intimate  that, 
in  looking  at  and  describing  the  condition  of  their  long  cherished 
scheme,  their  desires  too  often  color  their  statements.”* 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  cast  reproach  upon  any  who  have  been, 
or  who  are  now  connected  with  schemes  for  the  colonization  of  Li¬ 
beria,  or  to  reflect  upon  the  purity  of  their  motives. 

We  have  only  to  deal  with  results. 

The  objects  and  motives  of  the  society  above  referred  to,  are  pure 
and  exalted;  but  the  fruits  of  their  enterprise  are  bitter  and  disap¬ 
pointing. 

Knowing  the  character  of  the  gentlemen  forming  that  society,  it 
would  be  a  libel  to  assert  that  it  is  their  purpose  to  deceive  the  igno¬ 
rant  field  hands  of  our  southern  plantations,  who  are  occasionally  re¬ 
ported  in  the  newspapers,  as  clamoring  for  the  means  and  opportuni¬ 
ty  to  emigrate. 

It  is  then  but  simple  charity  to  suppose,  as  Rev.  Mr.  Thomas  sug¬ 
gests,  that  their  zeal  in  promoting  the  colonization  of  Liberia,  with¬ 
out  a  proper  consideration  of  the  untold  privation  and  suffering  it 
frequently  brings  to  the  individual,  is  blind ;  and  outruns  their  pru¬ 
dence  and  discretion. 

It  is  also  due  to  the  writer,  to  disclaim  any  interest  whatsoever  in 
this  subject,  except  that  which  the  common  principle  of  our  human¬ 
ity  urges. 

The  narrow  limit  allowed  to  •  me  here  will  only  permit  a  brief  re¬ 
cital  of  facts,  but  it  may  be  sufficient  to  show  that  emigration  to  Li¬ 
beria  has  its  shadow  as  well  as  sun. 


*Rev.  C.  W.  Thomas,  M.  A.,  “West  Coast  of  Africa.” 


THE  CLIMATE  OF  LIBERIA. 


The  Republic  of  Liberia  occupies  the  Grain,  or  Pepper  coast  of 
Northern  Guinea,  in  the  Torrid  Zone,  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa,  be¬ 
tween  the  (4th)  fouith  and  (9th)  ninth  parallels  of  north  latitude.  Its 
climate  is  equatorial  and  divided  into  two  seasons,  the  wet  and  dry,  or, 
as  they  are  called  by  the  natives,  the  “rains”  and  “dries.”  These  sea¬ 
sons  are  not,  of  course  exactly  defined,  and  rain  occurs  in  both  seasons, 
but  more  continuously  in  the  wet.  The  rainy  season  may  be  said  to 
begin  in  the  middle  of  May  ;  the  dry  season  in  the  middle  of  Novem¬ 
ber.  The  “  Harmattan  ”  season  is  in  December  and  January;  the 
wind  of  this  season  is  peculiarly  disagreeable  in  its  effects  upon 
man  and  beast,  and  is  so  drying  that  the  leaves  and  covers  of 
books  curl,  and  the  seams  of  furniture  open  under  its  influence. 

April  is  the  month  of  tornadoes,  but  occasionally  one  blows  in  May. 
March  is,  however,  considered  the  most  trying  month  to  the  consti¬ 
tutions  of  new  comers,  and  in  it  the  sun  pours  down  its  torrid  rays 
directly  from  the  zenith.  The  extremes  of  temperature  throughout 
the  year  are  65  and  90  degrees  Fahrenheit.  The  worst  feature  in 
the  climate  is  its 

EXTREME  UNHEALTHINESS. 

From  the  dense  masses  of  tangled  undergrowth  festering  under 
an  equatorial  sun;  from  the  sluggish  rivers  choked  with  an  exuber¬ 
ant  vegetation,  and  from  the  superabundant  and  rapid  growth,  there 
arises  constantly  a  deadly  miasma,  fatal  or  sickening  alike  to  all  new 
comers,  be  they  black  or  white. 

The  fever  resulting  from  this  miasma  is  called  the  African  or  “  ac¬ 
climating  ”  fever,  and  it  attacks  most  persons  within  a  few  days  after 
their  arrival.  “  The  first  symptoms  are  languor,  a  lazy  indifference, 


headache,  pains  in  the  back,  loss  of  appetite,  and  more  or  -  less  gastric 
derangement,  rapidly  developing  into  bilious  remittent  fever.  If  this 
yields  to  mild  medical  treatment,  the  patient  is  prepared  to  endure 
ordinary  exposure  to  the  climate.  Sometimes  the  disease  assumes 
the  tertiary  form  of  intermittent  fever,  accompanied  by  bilious  vom¬ 
iting,  a  dull  expression  of  the  eye,  and  in  the  febrile  paroxysms,  in¬ 
tense  headache  and  delirium.”  It  is  a  singular  fact  and  one  worth 
noting,  that  those  who  remain  on  ship-board,  although  anchored 
only  a  short  distance  from  the  shore  suffer  less  from  the  effects  of 
the  climate. 

Mr.  Darwin  in  his  narrative  of  the  voyage  of  the  Beagle,  mentions 
the  same  phenomenon  as  existing  on  the  coast  of  Peru,  which  is 
scourged  with  a  similar  fever. 

Rev.  Mr.  Wilson,  a  Missionary  in  Africa  for  eighteen  years,  refer¬ 
ring  to  this  climate,  says  :  “Another  great  drawback  to  the  prosperity 
of  Liberia,  is  the  undoubted  unhealthiness  of  the  climate.  The 
process  of  acclimation  must  be  passed  through  even  by  colored 
persons,  and  for  the  first  six  months  it  is  quite  as  trying  to  them  as 
to  the  whites.”*  As  is  well  known  the  colored  emigrant  who  goes 
out  under  the  superintendence,  or  by  the  aid  of,  the  American  Colo¬ 
nization  Society  is,  on  arrival,  taken  in  charge  by  their  agents  and 
remains  under  their  care  for  six  months,  during  which  period  he  is 
supposed  to  be  acclimated  or  dies  of  the  fever.  If,  happily,  he 
survives  and  is  without  capital,  or  a  snug  sum  laid  up  for  a  rainy  day, 
he  goes  out  into  the  community  enfeebled  by  the  fever  and  liable  to 
a  relapse  or  other  complication  caused  by  it,  to  fight  for  his  life  and 
fortune  in  competition  with  the  abundant  Americo-African  and 
aboriginal  labor.  With  the  latter  he  is  at  a  grea't  disadvantage, 
owing  to  his  greater  physical  and  social  needs. 

“  The  Colonization  Society’s  six  months’  allowance  is  in  many 
cases  just  sufficient  to  escort  one  who  is  really  dependent  on  it  to  the 
verge  of  trouble  or  to  the  door  of  starvation.  When  the  Society 
drops  you,  it  is  ‘  root  pig  or  die,’  and  a  poor  sickly  pig  finds  ‘Jordan 
is  a  hard  road  to  travel.’  The  land  is  able  and  willing  to  yield  ample 
supplies  in  return  for  labor,  but  the  winds  are  not  able  to  support 
you  until  the  products  of  the  land  mature.”t 

* Wilson’s  “  Western  Africa.” 

t  James  Church  will  Yaughan.  Liberian  correspondent. 


7 


As  regards  the  physical  ability  of  the  different  races  to  withstand 
the  miasmatic  influence  of  the  climate,  it  is  established : 

First. — That  the  aboriginal  inhabitant  is  not  particularly  affected 
by  it.  He  is  born  in  it,  reared  in  it,  and  saturated  by  it.  Of  the 
probability  of  atmospheric  poison  saturation,  which  renders  the 
system  poison  proof,  while  subjected  to  its  continuous  influence,  we 
have  evidence  at  our  own  doors. 

Second. —  That  the  white  man,  sooner  or  later,  succumbs  to  its 
deadly  influence.  An  intermittent  residence  will  prolong  his  life ; 
a  continuous  sojourn  will  end  it  in  a  few  years.  “  The  climate,  both 
on  the  coast  (of  Liberia)  and  in  the  interior,  is  fatal  to  Europeans, 
andTlangerous  even  for  the  blacks  born  in  the  temperate  zone,  but 
not  unfavorable  to  the  indigenous  population.”  * 

Third. — That  the  foreign  black  man  may  be  acclimated  ;  the 
white  scarcely  ever ;  at  the  same  time  it  is  signally  true  that  it 
attacks  the  former,  and  is  fatal  to  him  in  very  many  instances.  To 
the  mulatto,  there  is  reason  to  believe  it  is  more  fatal  than  to  the 
pure  blooded  negro.  Both  white  and  black  have  to  pass  through 
the  same  process  of  acclimation.  On  this  point,  Rev.  Mr.  Wilson 
says:  “For  the  colored  man  from  these  United  States  is  as  S2ire  to 
feel  the  effects  of  the  climate  as  the  white  man  ;  and  if  the  physi¬ 
cal  constitution  of  the  former  possesses  some  advantage  in  adapting 
itself  more  readily  to  the  climate,  I  am  not  sure  but  the  other  will 
have  equally  as  much  advantage  in  his  superior  discretion  and  the 
precautionary  measures  which  he  will  practice  to  preserve  his 
health.”  t 

Other  and  more  recent  authorities  assert,  that  there  is  no  sensible 
difference  in  the  effects  of  the  climate  upon  the  white,  the  mulatto, 
and  the  foreign  black  man. 

^Stanford’s  Compendium;  edited  by  Keith  Johnston,  Chief  of  Royal  Geograph¬ 
ical  Society’s  Expedition. 

f  Wilson’s  “  Western  Africa,”  fol.  511. 


THE  EVIDENCE  OF  FACTS. 


If  any  evidence  of  these  facts  is  desired,  it  is  only  necessary  to 
refer  to  the  long  roll  of  noble  martyrs,  both  white  and  black,  who 
have  given  their  lives  to  this  cause  from  its  inception  to  the  present 
moment.  Among  these  devoted  men  were  Mills,  Bacon,  Gordon, 
Dix,  Seaton,  Ashman,  Cary,  Randall,  Anderson,  Humphries  and 
Skinner,  all  of  whom  either  died  at  their  posts  or  came  with  consti¬ 
tutions  impaired,  home  to  die.  The  records  of  the  American  Colo¬ 
nization  Society  show  that  up  to  as  early  a  date  as  1859  they  had 
sent  out  10,000  emigrants  at  an  expense  of  $1,800,000,  of  whom  only 
one-lialf  were  then  residents.  Of  149  emigrants  sent  to  Liberia  in 
1851  on  the  bark  Morgan  Dix,  thirty-seven  died  before  the  close  of 
1852.  Of  eighty-eight  emigrants  sent  out  to  Sierra  Leone  in  1820, 
under  three  agents,  twenty  of  them  died  before  the  expiration  of  the 
year,  together  with  the  three  agents. 

Of  the  dreadful  mortality  attending  this  coast  fever,  Mr.  Adams 
gives  the  following  instances :  “  On  a  voyage  to  Lagos,  a  town  on 
the  coast  near  the  delta  of  the  Niger,  and  Benin,  a  town  on  the 
river,  out  of  a  crew  ofififty-five  persons,  thirty-five  died.  On  another 
voyage  to  Benin,  with  a  crew  of  twenty  men,  ten  died  in  four  weeks.”* 
I  have  taken  these  accounts  at  random,  as  they  happen  to  be  at 
hand.  If  it  is  objected  that  they  are  out  of  date  it  may  be  answered 
that  the  conditions  are  still  unchanged  and  the  results  would  be  the 
same  to-day. 

To  take  a  more  recent  illustration  :  the  bark  Azor  sailed  from 
Charleston,  S.  C.,  in  the  spring  of  1878,  with  256  negro  emigrants. 
It  is  but  fair  to  state  that  the  ship  was  over-crowded  and  not  prop¬ 
erly  fitted  for  the  passenger  traffic.  Twenty-three  of  these  emigrants 
died  on  the  passage,  twenty-seven  have  since  died  in  Liberia  and 
sixteen  had  returned  up  to  a  date  not  very  late. 


*  Adams’  “  Remarks.”  folio  20G. 


9 


A  family  of  ton  persons,  from  Burke  county,  Ga.,  was  on  her 
passenger  list.  The  father  and  two  members  of  it  died  on  the  ship, 
and  two  more  on  arrival  at  Monrovia.  The  remaining  five  have 
returned  to  their  old  home  in  Burke  county,  by  the  assistance  of 
friends,  white  and  black.  Others  who  went  from  the  same  county 
have  appealed  to  the  charity  of  their  friends  there,  and  the  money 
has  been  sent  them  to  return. 

A  returned  Liberian,  in  a  communication  addressed  to  the  Balti¬ 
more  American ,  says,  in  reply  to  an  editorial  entitled  “Liberia  No 
Paradise,”  and  a  letter  from  William  Coppinger,  secretary  of  the 
American  Colonization  Society  : — “  I  don’t  propose  to  contradict  the 
statements  of  either.  In  fact  I  cannot,  for  as  far  as  they  go  they  are 
true;  but  neither  tells  all  nor  dwells  upon  the  main  thing  connected  with 
Liberia — the  awful  unhealthiness  of  the  climate  and  the  great  suffer¬ 
ings  all  emigrants  have  to  endure  there.  I  went  to  Liberia  in  1847 
with  a  party  of  over  twenty  from  Baltimore,  and  I  do  not  believe 
there  are  over  two  of  that  party  now  living  in  Liberia.  Myself  and 
one  other  came  back  to  Baltimore  after  the  war.  Everybody  who 
goes  out  there  is  attacked  with  a  severe  fever  within  twenty  days. 
More  or  less  die  in  the  first  attack,  but  the  second,  sure  to  follow,  is 
still  more  fatal.  Some  have  it  lightly,  and  get  about  and  only  suffer 
from  chill  and  fever  afterward,  while  the  greater  part  enjoy  nothing 
like  health  for  years,  if  ever.  I  was  one  of  five  children,  making 
seven  in  all,  including  father  and  mother.  Father  died  at  once  in 
the  first  attack,  mother  within  a  year,  leaving  us  all  young  children 
orphans.  Our  case  wasxnot  singular.  The  same  or  about  the  same 
occurs  to  emigrants  from  every  vessel;  in  fact  a  great  majority  of  the 
emigrants  are  poor  and  helpless,  and  their  sufferings  are  greater  than 
I  can  describe.  I  have  known  nearly  half  of  the  emigrants  by  a 
vessel  to  die  within  a  year,  and  1  could  name  many  families,  most  of 
whom  are  dead,  but  the  mention  of  names  would  be  of  no  use,  as 
they  are  unknown.  But  take  the  families  that  are  known.  Say  the 
Roberts  family — mother  and  daughter,  the  President,  the  Bishop, 
the  Doctor  and  one  other — all  dead.  The  McGill  family  from  Balti¬ 
more — man,  wife,  daughter  and  five  sons — all  gone.  The  Tragis 
family — all  dead.  The  Paines — two  only  surviving.  Of  the  five 
Presidents  two  only  are  alive.  Then  of  the  more  prominent  men 


IO 


Bishop  Burns,  Governor  Russum,  Henry  Dennis,  the  Drs.  Moore 
(father  and  son),  the  great  sugar  planter  Richardson,  Augustus 
Washington  and  a  host  of  others  well  known — all  gone.  Had  Li¬ 
beria  possessed  a  tolerable  climate  I  should  never  have  left  it,  and 
yet  I  did  not  leave  it  merely  to  save  life,  my  own  life ;  but  that  life 
was  rendered  miserable  by  witnessing  the  sufferings  of  others  from 
that  baleful  climate.  I  say  nothing  about  anything  else.  This  fatal 
bar  to  emigration  and  successful  growth  is  enough  to  deter  all  who 
know  from  attempting  it,  and  for  this  end  solely  do  I  offer  this  brief, 
truthful  sketch. 

The  evidence  of  the  unhealthiness  of  the  climate  is  extremely  abun¬ 
dant,  and  the  only  difficulty  is  in  making  a  judicious  selection.  Un¬ 
supported  opinions  on  such  a  subject  are,  however,  of  little  value, 
and  I  make  a  final  quotation  from  document  No.  273  of  the  Lega¬ 
tion  of  the  United  States,  dated  at  Monrovia,  Liberia,  September  3, 
1877 

“  These  agents  speak  the  truth  when  they  represent  that  the  emi¬ 
grants  will  find  the  soil  fertile  ;  that  constant  summer  prevails ;  that 
there  are  mineral  wealth,  beautiful  landscapes,  luxurious  vegetation, 
tropical  fruits  of  every  description,  &c.  But  they  should  add  that 
the  most  primitive  agricultural  appliances  are  used  for  tilling  this 
most  fertile  soil,  such  as  cutlasses,  hoes,  bill  hooks,  &c.  Such  a 
thing  as  a  plough  is  not  to  be  found  in  use  in  Liberia.*  It  has  been 
demonstrated  that  neither  horses  nor  mules  can  withstand  the  climate 
on  the  sea  coast.  Horses  are  found  in  the  interior,  but  when  brought 
to  the  coast  they  sicken  and  die.  Although  constant  summer  prevails, 
as  to  temperature,  the  miasmatic  influence  caused  by  heavy  rains  al¬ 
ternating  with  the  hot  sunshine  causes  sickness  during  six  months  of 
the  year,  and  during  the  remaining  six  months  the  power  of  the  sun 
is  such  that  it  is  almost  impossible  for  any  one  except  a  native  to 
work,  as  it  produces  inertia,  lassitude,  want  of  energy.  Indeed  after 
a  man  has  once  had  the  fever  he  never,  in  Africa,  regains  the  energy 
he  was  possessed  of  before.” 

*To  be  absolutely  truthful,  it  is  proper  to  state,  that  since  the  above  date,  one 
plough  has  been  put  into  use  at  Cape  Palmas. 


FALSE  IMPRESSIONS  OF  AFRICA. 


So  much  has  been  written  about  the  unhealthiness  of  African  cli¬ 
mates,  the  belief  is  well  nigh  general  that  the  whole  of  Africa  is  to 
Europeans  a  vast  charnel  house.  A  moment’s  reflection  is  only- 
necessary  to  satisfy  the  inquirer  that  a  continent  occupying  seventy 
degrees  of  latitude  more  or  less,  must  necessarily  possess  a  variety 
of  soils,  vegetation  and  climates.  Cape  Messurado  in  Liberia,  where 
its  capital  Monrovia  is  located,  and  Sierra  Leone,  are  supposed  to 
be  more  unhealthy  than  the  country  generally.  “  I  do  not  remem¬ 
ber  to  have  heard  a  dissent  from  this  opinion  by  a  single  individual 
whose  judgment  was  entitled  to  respect ;  and  yet  it  is  from  statistics 
of  sickness  and  mortality  occurring  at  these  two  places  chiefly, 
that  the  public,  both  in  England  and  America,  have  derived 
their  impressions  of  the  unhealthiness  of  the  country  at  large.”*  In 
view  of  the  great  loss  of  valuable  lives  that  both  countries  have  suffered 
on  this  part  of  the  West  coast,  this  impression,  or  belief,  is  not  unrea¬ 
sonable.  Every  year  is  however  adding  to  our  knowledge  of  the 
geography  and  climatology  of  this  vast  region. 

Among  the  recent  additions  to  the  literature  of  this  subject  is  a 
paper  read  at  the  Royal  Geographical  Society’s  meeting  on  Novem¬ 
ber  22,  1880,  by  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  late  Governor  of  the  Cape  Colony, 
on  the  Temperate  Region  of  South  Africa.”  The  Ex-Governor 
says  that  the  Northern  boundary  of  this  region  is  a  line  drawn  from 
Cape  Frio  in  Latitude  180  South,  on  the  Atlantic,  or  West  Coast,  to 
St.  Lucia  Bay  Latitude  290  South  on  the  Indian  or  East  Coast. 
This  imaginary  line  runs  from  East  to  West  in  a  Southeasterly  di¬ 
rection  across  the  continent,  and  is  about  (1500)  fifteen  hundred  miles 
in  length,  or  the  distance  from  London  to  Athens,  in  Greece.  The 
Eastern  boundary,  running  from  Cape  Frio  to  Capetown  is  in  a 


^ Wilson’s  “Western  Africa”  fob  5W 


straight  line,  (noo)  eleven  hundred  miles  in  length,  or  the  distance 
from  London  to  Gibraltar;  the  Western  boundary  running  from  St. 
Lucia  Bay  to  Cape  town  is  (700)  seven  hundred  miles  in  length  or  the 
distance  of  Vienna  from  London.  The  region  within  these  boundaries 
measures  about  1,190,000  square  miles,  or  one  third  the  area  of  Europe, 
and  six  times  that  of  France.  “Within  almost  the  whole  of  the  tract 
thus  bounded,  the  climate  and  general  conditions  of  human  life,  are 
such  as  suit  men  of  European  Race,  they  thrive  and  multiply  in 
the  manner  exemplified  in  the  history  of  the  Dutch  and  English 
speaking  population  of  the  Cape  Colony.”  “North  and  East  of  the  lines 
defined,  a  malarial  fever  is  met  with  in  all  low  lying  localities.”  “Such 
fever  if  not  unknown  South  and  West  of  the  line  indicated,  at  any 
rate  does  not  interfere  with  the  ordinary  condition  of  healthy  existence 
for  men  of  European  stock.” 

Within  this  region  are  the  following  Colonies  or  States : 

Cape  Colony,  proper. 

Rasuto  land. 

KafTraria,  Griqualand  East,  and  Pondoland. 

Natal. 

Transvaal. 

Orange  Free  State. 

Griqualand  West. 

Disputed  territory. 

Occupying  an  area  of  430,903  square  miles,  and  containing  a  popu¬ 
lation  of  natives  and  Europeans,  estimated  at  1,866,987. 

In  the  same  region  are  also  the  countries  of 

Zululand. 

Tongas. 

Swazis. 

With  an  area  of  108,800  square  miles  and  a  population  of  310,000. 
All  these  Countries,  Provinces  and  Colonies,  are  within  the  area  habi¬ 
table  by  Europeans  and  Colonists. 

In  the  same  paper  Sir  Bartle  Frere  gives  a  list  of  all  the  Missionary 
stations  in  the  district  occupied  in  spreading  the  Gospel  and  increas¬ 
ing  our  geographical  knowledge.  He  gives  the  total  number  of  sta¬ 
tions  as  eighty-four,  with  more  than  that  number  of  out  stations,  em¬ 
ploying  four  hundred  European  teachers. 


12 


It  is  suggested  that  in  the  interior  of  Liberia,  away  from  the  coasts 
and  rivers,  a  healthier  climate  may  be  found.  Owing  to  the  inaccess¬ 
ibility  of  the  interior  for  the  purposes  of  habitation  and  agriculture, 
the  entire  absence  of  roads  or  other  means  of  inter-communication 
excepting  foot  paths,  any  opinion  on  this  subject  must  be  founded 
on  conjecture. 


4 


PRODUCTIONS  AND  RESOURCES  OF  LIBERIA. 


The  fertility  of  the  soil,  the  abundance  of  natural  products  to  be 
obtained  without  labour,  the  ease  with  which  the  land  can  be  made 
to  pour  out  all  the  treasures  of  a  tropical  and  even  of  a  temperate 
climate,  have  not  been  exaggerated.  The  country  is  ready  and  will¬ 
ing  to  yield  “corn,  wine  and  oil”  in  full  measure  without  ceasing. 

Coffee  and  cotton  and  hundreds  of  other  productions  of  which 
other  nations  have  a  virtual  monopoly,  can  be  easily  raised.  But  we 
find  a  great  difference  between  the  actual  and  possible  productions  of 
Liberia.  Although  a  rice  growing  land,  it  is  not  planted  to  any  extent, 
as  the  Liberian  prefers  to  husband  the  natural  products  of  the  soil 
which  grow  without  labor  or  risk  ;  it  is  however  the  principal  bread¬ 
stuff,  and  commands  in  Sourthern  Liberia  $3.60  per  bushel,  in 
Northern  Liberia  $1.40  per  bushel.  For  this  necessary,  Liberia  pre¬ 
fers  to  depend  on  foreign  countries,  and  the  surplus  product  of  abor¬ 
iginal  laborers.  Notwithstanding  some  natural  drawbacks  in  its  cul¬ 
tivation,  such  as  the  destructive  character  of  the  birds,  it  is  stated  on 
official  authority,  that  Liberian  rice  is  of  better  quality  than  the  foreign, 
and  that  it  can  be  grown  and  sold  at  a  price  much  less.  Among  the 
vegetables  adapted  or  indigenous  to  the  climate  are  beans,  corn, 
the  potato  and  the  cassada,  the  latter  is  a  plant  more  valuable  than 
the  yam  or  sweet  potato,  and  requires  nine  months  to  mature ;  the 
potato  requiring  four  to  six  months. 

It  is  now  sixty-five  years  since  that  nature’s  nobleman  Paul  Cuffee, 
conducted  the  first  emigrants  to  Liberia’s  shores  and  thirty-three 
years  from  the  organization  of  the  Republic,  and  the  exports  still  con¬ 
tinue  to  be  palm  oil,  camwood,  and  inferior  ivory,  of  which  palm  oil  is 
the  chief.  “The  total  value  of  the  exports  from  Western  Africa  to  Great 
Britain  in  1878  was  ,£1,213,270,  two-thirds  of  the  exports  being  palm 
oil.”  “There  are  no  statistics  regarding  the  extent  of  the  commer¬ 
cial  relations  of  the  republic  of  Liberia  with  the  United  Kingdom ; 


H 


the  annual  statement  of  trade  and  navigation  issued  by  the  Board  of 
Trade  not  mentioning  Liberia,  but  only  the  Western  coast  of  Africa. 
By  that  statement  it  appears  that  the  annual  exports  from  1874  to  1878 
have  declined  from  ,£1,824,367  in  1874  to  ,£1,213,270  in  1878,  and 
the  imports  into  Western  Africa  have  increased  from  ,£761,932  in 
1874  to  ,£1,038,971  in  1878.”* 

A  natural  bar  to  the  great  commercial  importance  of  Liberia,  is 
her  deficiency  in  harbors,  and  the  absence  of  rivers  navigable  for 
over  twenty  miles  from  the  coast.  Her  shores,  excepting  in  the 
South  East,  are  low,  sandy,  and  swept  by  the  surf. 

The  dislike  of  the  negro  to  labor  is  obvious  in  Liberia.  There  is 
no  fire  in  his  bones  impelling  him  to  labor.  There  is  no  impulse  in 
his  climate  or  surroundings,  no  sufficient  need,  no  inherited  habits, 
no  illustrations  before  his  eyes.  If  his  physical  wants  are  supplied 
he  is  perfectly  satisfied  to  do  absolutely  nothing,  and  hence  “the 
want  of  disposition  to  cultivate  the  soil  is,  perhaps,  the  most  discour¬ 
aging  feature  in  the  prospects  of  Liberia,”  and  the  cause  of  its  con¬ 
tinued  dependence  on  other  countries  for  the  necessaries  and  com¬ 
forts  of  life.  The  tendency  or  drift  of  labor  is  toward  the  centres  of 
population  on  account  of  the  increased  opportunities  they  afford  for 
social  intercourse  in  the  way  of  religious  and  society  meetings,  for 
petty  trading  and  the  pursuit  of  politics.  The  shovel  and  the  hoe 
are  abandoned  when  it  is  possible,  and.  the  result  is  seen  in  the  ab¬ 
sence  of  roads,  the  inaccessibility  of  the  interior,  the  poverty  in  ag¬ 
ricultural  implements  adapted  to  advanced  culture,  the  stagnation,  if 
not  fatal  decadence,  of  agriculture,  the  occasional  public  disorder  and 
the  bankruptcy  of  the  government. 

*  Statesman’s  Year  Book :  1880. 


FALSE  REPRESENTATIONS  OF  LIBERIA. 


Among  the  false  representations  which  have  been  made  to  the 
ignorant  Southern  field  hand,  is  the  plenitude  of  horses  and  mules. 
We  have  seen  that  they  do  not  exist.  Labor  is  represented  as  abun¬ 
dant  when  there  is  no  demand  for  it.  A  carpenter  or  blacksmith  who 
depended  on  plying  his  trade  as  a  means  of  support  would  starve. 
The  common  field  hand,  who  is  in  the  majority  among  the  emigrants, 
comes  into  direct  competition  with  the  aborigines,  who  work  for  (25) 
twenty-five  cents  per  day,  not  paid  in  money,  but  in  calico  at  twenty- 
five  cents  per  yard,  or  in  tobacco.  At  $1.50  per  week  his  fortune 
will  not  accumulate  rapidly. 

Land  is  given  to  the  laborer  in  the  interior,  but  it  frequently  is  so 
inaccessible  as  to  be  valueless  for  any  purpose  except  bare  subsist¬ 
ence.  The  Georgia  family  before  referred  to,  report  that  the  land 
allotted  to  them  was  twenty-five  miles  from  Monrovia,  and  the  only 
access  to  it  was  by  a  footpatji.*  And  what  is  he  to  do  with  it,  with¬ 
out  capital,  or  the  means  of  cultivation  except  his  own  hands  ?  or 
means  of  living  until  the  crops  mature  ? 

Farming  in  Liberia  is  at  best  a  very  tedious  and  slow  process  ;  the 
very  luxuriance  of  vegetation  being  a  drawback  to  the  growth  and 
culture  of  crops.  Without  beasts  of  burden  to  work  the  crops,  the 
extent  of  land  in  the  power  of  one  man  to  cultivate  is  four  acres ;  the 


*There  are  no  roads,  save  the  narrow,  overgrown  footpaths,  which  are  only 
wide  enough  for  a  single  person  to  walk  in,  and  as  tortuous  as  the  way  of  a 
serpent.  These  paths  lie  through  the  territory  of  numerous  small  tribes,  full 
of  envy,  jealousy,  and  hate  toward  each  other;  so  the  traveler  who  is  able  to  pass 
one  will  find  it  hard  to  get  through  the  next,  which  perhaps  is  only  ten  miles 
further  on.  Add  to  these,  the  fact  that  provisions  are,  as  a  rule,  extremely  scarce 
among  these  small  tribes,  and  not  to  be  had  for  love  or  money,  and  you  will  be 
ready  to  form  some  idea  of  the  difficulty  of  reaching  interior  Africa  from  the 
Liberian  coast. — “ Our  Mission  Work  in  Africa by  lit.  Rev.  Charles  Clifton  Penicb 
D.  1).:  February ,  1881. 


i6 


profit  on  an  acre  of  coffee,  after  allowing  four  years  for  the  maturity 
of  the  trees,  is  estimated  at  $30,  giving  the  farmer,  after  waiting  four 
years  for  his  trees  to  grow,  an  income  of  $120  a  year  !  The  few 
beasts  of  burden  are  small  oxen,  but  the  greater  part  of  the  trans¬ 
portation  is  done  by  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  the  soil.  Among 
the  innumerable  insects  which  swarm  in  equatorial  climes  is  that  tor¬ 
ment  of  thin-skined  animals,  the  tsetse,  sometimes  called  the  “spear” 
or  “  little  sword”  fly.  Its  long,  sharp  proboscis  will  draw  blood 
through  a  canvas  hammock.  This  fly,  by  its  continued  torments, 
will  finally  exhaust  the  strength  of  horses  and  mules.  Swine 
are  said  not  to  thrive  well,  but  poultry  is  plentiful. 

The  immigrant  from  the  United  States  without  abundant  means 
at  his  command  is  deprived  of  his  accustomed  food. 

If  he  could  be  sure  of  a  bowl  of  rice  and  palm  oil  every  day,  he 
would  indeed  be  fortunate.  Bacon,  his  favorite  food,  ham,  flour, 
and  other  provisions,  excepting,  perhaps,  poultry,  are  extraordinarily 
high.  A  resident  government  official  says;  “I  have  never  seen  flour 
of  a  less  price  than  fourteen  dollars  per  barrel,  butter  one  dollar  per 
pound,  hams  from  five  to  eight  dollars  each  ;  ”  *  bacon  can  be  had  at 
twenty-five  cents  a  pound,  brogans  at  $2.50  to  $5.00  per  pair,  common 
prints  or  calico,  twenty-five  cents  per  yard. 

The  Georgian  emigrants’  report,  and  their  evidence  is  corroborated 
by  the  best  authority  in  Liberian  matters,  that  it  is  folly  for  the  emi¬ 
grant  to  rely  on  the  hope  of  meeting  friends  there,  upon  whom  he 
can  depend  in  his  misfortune :  there,  perhaps,  more  than  here,  they 
come  with  money,  and  go  with  it;  and  the  emigrant  who  lands  de¬ 
pending  on  the  small  accumulation  of  his  scanty  earnings,  is,  unless 
remarkably  provident,  soon  “  washed  up.” 

With  the  greatest  desire  to  make  the  picture  as  bright  as  pos¬ 
sible,  the  fact  will  still  remain  that  the  masses  or  the  majority  of 
emigrants  from  this  country  are  very  poor  when  they  land,  and,  with 
very  few  exceptions,  get  poorer  in  a  continued  residence.  And, 
finally,  the  emigrant  to  Liberia  from  the  United  States  gives  up 
educational,  religious,  moral,  social  and  physical  advantages,  which 
he  cannot  live  to  see  reproduced  in  the  country  of  his  adoption. 


*Do.cument  of  the  Legation  of  the  United  States. 


THE  POPULATION  AND  ITS  CHARACTER. 


In  1830,  eight  years  after  the  settlement  of  Liberia,  its  population, 
exclusive  of  aborigines,  was  1,500.  In  1847,  the  date  of  the  organi¬ 
zation  of  the  Republic,  the  Americo- African  population  was  5,000, 
and  the  number  of  aborigines  occupying  their  territory  100,000.  In 
1856,  nine  years  after,  the  Americo- Africans  numbered  8,000  and  the 
aborigines  250,000.  The  population  of  Monrovia  at  this  date  was 
1,500;  of  Sinou,  1,000;  of  Cape  Palmas,  1,000.  In  1873,  twenty- 
six  years  after  the  organization  of  the  Republic,  the  Americo-African 
population  was  20,000 ;  the  aborigines  numbering  700,000,  including 
the  two  large,  powerful  and  semi-hostile  tribes  of  Mandengas  and 
Grebos,  the  former  nearly  all  Mohammedans,  and  among  the  most 
intelligent,  enterprising  and  influential  of  all  the  West  African  tribes; 
“many  of  them  can  read  and  write  Arabic  with  ease  and  ele¬ 
gance.” 

Three  years  later,  in  1876,  these  two  tribes  were  in  a  state  of 
insurrection  against  the  Liberian  government,  which  insurrection, 
however,  was  finally  subdued.  In  1878  the  Americo-Liberians 
numbered  19,000;  the  aborigines  701,000,  the  town  of  Monrovia 
having  an  estimated  population  of  13,000.  We  discover  from  these 
statistics,  imperfect  as  they  necessarily  are,  the  apparent  centraliza¬ 
tion  of  the  population  in  the  larger  towns,  as  has  already  been 
observed,  and  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  town  of  Monrovia  which,  in 
the  year  1856,  contained  less  than  one-fifth  of  the  entire  Americo- 
African  population,  in  1878  contained  but  little  less  than  two-thirds  of 
that  population. 

The  leading  tribes  among  the  forty  more  or  less  comprising  the 
aboriginal  population  of  Liberia  are  the  Mandengas  and  Grebos 
already  mentioned  ;  the  Veis,  who  are  inventors  of  an  alphabet  for 
writing  their  own  language,  and  who  are  fast  being  converted  tq 


i8 


Mohammedanism  under  the  influence  of  the  Mandengas;  the  Basas,* 
Bardines,  Pessehs  and  the  Krus,  who  are  the  sailors  of  the  coast. 

Among  these  tribes  slavery  is  established,  and  involuntary  servi¬ 
tude  exists.  There  has  also  grown  up  much  to  the  alarm  of  the 
friends  of  Liberia,  a  system  of  apprenticeship ;  by  which  the  members  . 
of  the  inferior  tribes  are  bound  to  the  service  of  the  Liberians  for  a 
term  of  years. 

We  then  find  in  Liberia,  whose  very  name  breathes  of  freedom, 
the  remarkable  anomaly  of  a  republic,  founded  by  Christian  philan- 
trophists,  in  the  interests  of,  and  as  an  asylum  for,  an  oppressed  and 
enslaved  race,  and  whose  government  is  conducted  exclusively  by 
that  race,  encouraging  and  abetting  the  great  evil  of  domestic 
slavery  and  involuntary  servitude  within  its  own  borders,  and  by 
the  inefficiency  of  its  government  powerless  to  prevent  it.  Upon 
this  point  Dr.  E.  W.  Blyden,  the  very  able  and  accomplished 
president  of  Liberia  College  at  Monrovia,  says  : — “  Domestic  slavery 
exists.  It  is  difficult  and  impossible  for  the  Liberian  government  to 

interfere.”! 

As  has  already  been  observed,  the  most  powerful  and  intelligent 
of  these  tribes  is  the  Mandenga.  It  is  the  only  one  having  a  written 
form  of  law  and  exercises  a  great  influence  upon  its  fellows. 

The  relation  therefore  of  these  independent  tribes  under  the  lead 
of  the  Mandengas,  to  the  Liberian  government  is  extremely  weak. 
They  manage  their  own  affairs  in  their  own  way,  the  authority  of  the 
government  only  arising  from  the  agreement  of  these  tribes  not  to 
make  war  or  carry  on  the  slave  trade. 

The  preponderance  of  this  great  aboriginal  population  in  the 
Republic  is  a  source  of  great  political  and  moral  danger,  which  the 
space  allowed  me  will  not  permit  us  to  discuss.  It  will  suffice  to  say 
that  the  influence  of  such  a  mass  of  barbarism  and  superstition  within 
the  confines  of  Liberia  upon  the  majority  of  the  Americo -Africans 
just  emerging  from  barbarism  themselves  must  be  extremely  weaken¬ 
ing  ;  “  while  no  doubt  there  are  among  them  many  individuals  of 
sufficient  intelligence  and  force  to  sustain  themselves  anywhere.”  the 
majority  must  be  sensibly  and  disadvantageously  impressed  by  it. 

*The  authority  for  the  orthography  of  these  tribal  names,  is  A.  II.  Keane  in 
Stanford’s  Compendium. 

fiMethodist  Quarterly  Review,  July,  1872. 


THE  FINANCIAL  CONDITION. 


The  financial  credit  of  a  government  or  people  is  a  sure  indicator 
of  its  permanent  or  temporary  condition,  and  the  statement  is  rather 
disparaging  to  Liberia  that  in  1871  $ 500,000  was  borrowed  in 
London  for  “internal  improvements,”  which,  after  deducting  two 
years’  interest  paid  in  advance,  agents’  commissions,  &c.,  &c.,  netted 
'to  Liberia  $ 200,000  in  gold  and  useless  goods,  which  soon  disap¬ 
peared  without  an  internal  improvement!”  “Her  inability  to  pay 
either  principal  or  interest  is  now  apparent,  and  unfortunately  she 
lies  at  the  mercy  of  her  bondholders.”* 

The  rate  of  interest  nominated  in  the  bond  is  seven  per  cent,  the 
principal  to  be  paid  in  fifteen  years.  How  discouraging  the  prospect 
of  payment  is  may  be  seen  from  the  fact  that  “  the  public  revenue  in 
the  years  1875  to  1878  was  estimated  to  have  amounted  annually  to 
$85,000  in  paper  currency,  equal  to  about  ,£12,000,  and  the 
expenditure  to  $120,000,  or  ;£i7,ooo,”t  showing  the  annual  excess  of 
expenses  for  the  general  administration  of  the  government  over  the 
income  to  be  41  per  cent. 

The  Hon.  W.  H.  Roe,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  his  annual 
report  on  the  finances  of  Liberia  to  the  House  of  Representatives  in 
December,  1880,  states  the  receipts  of  the  last  fiscal  year  to  be  in 
round  numbers  $119,450  and  the  disbursements  for  the  same 
period  $116,000  showing  a  nominal  surplus  of  three  thousand 
dollars.  If,  however,  we  deduct  the  increase  of  the  public  debt  made 
during  the  year  by  the  issue  of  $45,000  in  new  paper  currency,  we 
have  the  following  result : 

♦Commodore  Sliufeldt’s  address  before  the  American  Colonization  Society, 
January  18,  1876. 

fStatesman’s  Year  Book,  1880. 


20 


Receipts  of  last  fiscal  year, 

Deducting  issue  of  Currency  for  same  year, 


$119,451,68 


45,000.00 


Net  Receipts, 


$74,451,68 


Disbursements  for  same  period, 
Deducting  Net  Receipts, 


$115,969,28 

74,451.68 


Balance 


$4i,5i7-6o 


This  statement  shows  the  alarming  excess  of  expenditure  over  net 
receipts  of  $41, 517.60  or  56  per  cent.!  The  “London  African  Times” 
states  that  this  deficit  was  made  up  by  the  issue  of  new  paper  currency 
as  above  seen.  On  the  authority  of  the  “  Monrovia  Observer  ”  news¬ 
paper  report,  the  President  in  his  message  delivered  on  the  16th  of 
December,  1880,  said:  “that  the  recent  issue  of  fifty  thousand  dollars 
in  addition  to  that  already  in  circulation,  had  depreciated  the 
currency  to  such  an  extent  that  labor  is  greatly  retarded  and 
discouraged,”  and  he  thought  that  unless  something  else  was 
substituted  of  more  intrinsic  value  than  paper,  the  advancement  and 
prosperity,  as  well  as  the  commercial  and  agricultural  operations  of 
the  country  would  be  most  seriously  damaged. 

No  provision  has  been  made  for  the  payment  of  the  principal  or 
interest  of  the  bonded  debt,  or  for  the  redemption  of  the  currency  ; 
and  the  President  contents  himself  by  asking  that  measures  be  taken 
at  once  for  the  extinction  of  the  claims  held  by  foreigners  against 
the  Republic.  What  measures,  in  the  present  disastrous  financial 
condition  of  the  Republic  can  be  taken  with  any  prospect  of  success, 
is  a  problem  upon  the  solution  of  which  the  President  is,  perhaps, 
necessarily  reticent. 

The  coin  chiefly  used  in  Liberia  is  that  of  Great  Britain,  but 
accounts  are  kept  generally  in  American  dollars  and  cents. 

In  May  last,  the  paper  currency  had  reached  a  depreciation  of 
twenty  per  cent.,  it  is  now,  probably,  greater. 

This  condition  of  hopeless  bankruptcy  is  fraught  with  danger  to 
the  existence  of  the  Republic.  The  cords  which  bind  her  to 
England  are  being  drawn  closer  and  closer,  her  exports  go  largely 
to  England,  her  imports  are  from  England,  her  loans  are  from 


J 


21 


England,  and  what  few  favors  she  has  to  grant,  or  are  required  of 
her,  are  to  English  capitalists  ;  notably,  a  charter  recently  given  to  an 
English  company  for  a  railroad  extending  200  miles  back  from 
Monrovia,  the  capital,  and  designed  ultimately  to  connect  that  port 
.with  the  head  waters  of  the  Niger.  English  influence  and  gunboats 
may  at  any  moment  settle  the  question  of  the  future  of  Liberia. 


THE  POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITION. 


In  our  Southern  States  we  have  the  curious  phenomenon  of  a  race 
divided  against  itself  by  reason  of  the  shades  of  color  occasioned  by 
the  admixture  of  white  blood.  This  feeling  of  hostility  is  sometimes 
latent,  but  always  powerful.  As  the  “  color  line  ”  controls  the  negro 
in  any  question  affecting  his  race  arising  between  it  and  the  whites,  its 
power  is  equally  absolute  in  any  question  between  the  negro  and 
mulatto.  This  apple  of  discord  is  transplanted  on  the  shores  of 
Liberia  and  flourishes  luxuriantly.  Without  entering  into  the 
question  of  the  effect  of  the  admixture  of  white  blood  upon  the 
mental  capacity  of  the  negro,  an  exceedingly  interesting  one,  it  will 
suffice  to  say  that  the  government  of  Liberia  has  from  its  beginning  ; 
with  few  exceptions,  been  in  the  hands  of  the  mulatto,  and  whatever 
of  incapacity,  of  corruption,  of  mismanagement  and  disaster  has 
followed  that  government,  it  is  charged  upon  him  by  the  pure 
blooded  negro,  (who  outnumbers  him  in  the  proportion  of  nine  to 
one),  justly  or  unjustly,  as  it  may  be. 

In  addition  to  this  difficulty  is  the  want  of  harmony,  to  use  a  mild 
term,  between  the  Americo- Africans  and  the  aborigines,  which, 
according  to  some  correspondents,  has  culminated  in  contempt  and 
hatred  on  the  part  of  the  latter.  This  feeling  has  been  aggravated 
no  doubt  by  the  superciliousness  of,  and  the  tone  of  superiority 
assumed  by,  the  immigrants  from  the  United  States  towards  their 
less  fortunate  ancestral  tribes.  Its  origin  may,  however,  be  traced  to 
the  misunderstandings  arising  from  the  sale  of  lands.  The  tradi¬ 
tional  custom  of  these  aboriginal  tribes  is  to  pass  land  by  inheritance 
only ;  the  transfer  of  land  by  sale  is  unknown  and  misunderstood  by 
them,  and  although  they  may  have  signed  deeds  and  conveying 
instruments  to  the  American  Colonization  Society  or  to  the  Liberian 
government  they  have  no  comprehension  of  their  force  and  meaning; 


23 


and  these  lands  can  only  be  held  by  a  superior  force  against  their 
original  owners,  the  original  agreements  being  entirely  ignored.  A 
secret  society,  a  sort  of  free-masonry,  is  already  formed  among  them, 
daily  increasing  in  numbers,  the  ultimate  design  of  which  is  to 
prevent  further  aggressions  on  their  territory  by  the  Liberians. 
Another  evidence  of  the  hostility  of  these  tribes  is  the  readiness  they 
manifested  only  a  short  time  since,  in  a  boundary  dispute,  to  side 
with  England  en  masse  against  Liberia.  I  have  already  suggested 
the  tendency  toward  the  abandonment  of  agriculture  for  the  pursuit 
of  politics,  (the  government  being  in  a  state  of  continual  political 
agitation,)  of  petty  trading,  or  other  light  and  less  laborious,  and,  in 
the  opinion  of  the  partly  educated,  more  dignified  and  “  aristocratic,” 
vocations.  This  drift  is  no  doubt  owing  to  the  effect  of  the  climate 
and  surroundings,  which  causes  in  the  Americo- African,  as  in  the 
aborigines,  indolence,  indifference  and  improvidence. 

Social  progress  in  Liberia,  it  is  perhaps  unnecessary  to  add,  is 
as  backward  as  the  political.  From  what  has  already  been  remarked 
the  social  condition  may  be  inferred  without  occupying  more  space. 
The  Negro  has  no  liking  for  labor  as  labor,  and  when  he  has  labored 
takes  no  satisfaction  in  the  result  because  it  was  attained  by  his 
labor ;  he  would  prefer  it  as  a  free  gift.  This  characteristic  is  a 
fatal  bar  to  social  progress.  He  has  little,  if  any,  innate  social 
ambition.  From  contact  with,  and  in  imitation  of  a  superior  race 
he  shows  social  ambition  to  some  extent ;  but  vanity,  not  pride,  is  his 
leading  characteristic.  As  a  race  he  has  no  love  of  knowledge,  but 
is  not  altogether  deficient  in  the  desire  for  education ;  that  desire  is., 
however,  indefinite  and  based  on  a  love  of  display  and  novelty. 
With  education,  as  with  the  objects  of  labor,  he  much  prefers  to 
have  it  as  a  gift,  and  will  exercise  little  self-denial  in  obtaining  it. 
The  history  of  the  Americo- African  proves  this.  For  a  long  period 
the  schools  and  churches  in  Liberia  were  entirely  supported  by 
foreign  missionary  societies,  and  to-day  there  is  very  little,  if  any, 
interest  in  higher  education  or  the  support  of  common  schools, 
which  are  inferior  and  irregular.* 

*The  schools  are  in  a  most  deplorable  condition  ;  morality  at  alow  ebb, and 
the  people  generally,  oppressed  with  heavy  taxes,  are  lazy  and  indolent. — “ Stan¬ 
ford's  Compendium ,”  edited  by  Keith  Johnston ,  Chief  of  Royal  Geographical  So¬ 
ciety's  Expedition ,  fol.  129. 


24 


It  is  extremely  gratifying  and  encouraging  to  learn  that  the 
educational  interests  of  the  state  have  largely  claimed  the  attention 
of  the  Department  of  the  Interior  of  Liberia  during  the  year. 

The  government  is  now  taking  the  initiative,  and  claims  to  have 
established  forty-three  schools  with  forty-four  teachers,  attended  by 
1400  children.  A  large  proportion  of  the  children  being  of  aborig¬ 
inal  parentage,  and  belonging  to  the  Golahs,  Veis,  Basas  and 
Grebos.  Several  of  these  schools  are  located  in  native  towns. 

We  are  then  emboldened  to  hope  for  better  things  in  the  future; 
but  thus  far  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  result  of  the  efforts  of  the 
friends  of  education  in  Liberia  has  been  extremely  disappointing. 

A  quarter  of  a  century  ago  Liberia  College  was  founded  by  the 
liberality  of  Christian  philanthropists  in  Boston  and  elsewhere.  The 
purpose  of  its  founders  was  to  provide  the  means  to  educate  Negroes 
for  the  missionary  work  in  the  interior  of  Africa.  It  has  so  far  been 
a  failure.  The  government  and  the  people  have  taken  no  interest 
in  it,  and  have  done  nothing  for  the  college  but  to  make  vexatious 
rules.  The  buildings,  erected  at  a  great  expense,  were  allowed  to 
go  to  ruin,  and  up  to  a  recent  date  the  government  could  not  be 
induced  to  make  an  appropriation  for  repairs  or  to  give  the  founders 
any  encouragement.  A  few  years  after  its  establishment,  Rev.  Mr. 
Thomas  said  of  it  : — “  I  regret  to  say  that  a  college  has  been  lately 
established  in  Liberia.  *  *  *  I  regret  it  because  it  will  involve 

an  outlay  that  might  be  better  used  in  common  schools.  *  *  * 

The  present  state  of  society  in  Liberia  has  no  demand  for  such  a 
thing.”  *The  event  has  justified  that  prophecy.  The  great  draw¬ 
back,  irrespective  of  natural  disadvantages  to  the  Liberian  is  his 
innate  or  acquired  dependence  on  others  for  social  advantages 
which  his  own  hands  should  have  created. 

*Rev.  C.  W.  Thomas,  M.  A.,  “  West  Coast  of  Africa.” 


OUR  PRESENT  DUTY. 


Archbishop  Whately  has  said  that  “no  community  ever  did  or 
ever  can  emerge,  unassisted  by  external  help,  from  a  state  ot  utter 
barbarism  into  anything  that  can  be  called  civilization.”* 

Physical  geographyhas  blighted  Africa  with  the  curse  of  barbarism. 
In  God's  providence  she  will  be  redeemed,  Christianized  and  civil¬ 
ized.  The  giant  in  the  way  of  European  colonization,  in  the  greater 
part  of  the  continent  is  the  climate ;  a  difficulty,  which,  in  all 
probability,  can  never  be  overcome.  The  work  of  evangelization 
then,  can  only  be  accomplished  by  the  Negro  as  an  humble 
instrument  in  the  hands  of  superior  races. 

Liberia,  to  which  the  whole  Christian  world  has  looked  for  an 
inauguration  of  this  great  work,  for  evidence  that  the  Christianized 
Negro  is  able  to  grapple  with  barbarism  alone,  is  inert,  silent  and 
dependent.  Mohammedanism,  insidious  and  powerful,  is  fast 
swallowing  up  the  natives  of  her  own  borders. 

Thus  far  she  has  made  no  use  of  her  opportunities,  and  has 
accomplished  nothing  which  would  not  have  been  otherwise  accom¬ 
plished  at  a  much  diminished  expenditure  of  valuable  lives  and 
treasure.  I  know  it  is  affirmed  that  she  has  extinguished  the  slave 
trade  on  600  miles  of  coast.  How  potential  the  Republic  was  in  this 
matter  could  be  better  ascertained  by  inquiry  of  the  commanders  of 
English  and  American  cruisers  and  gunboats.  It  may  also  be 
pertinently  asked  if  the  Republic  was  able  to  do  this  why  is  she  not 
able  to  settle  her  differences  with  the  aboriginal  tribes  unaided  by 
American  men-of-war?  And  why  does  she  permit  the  “foul  blot” 
of  slavery  within  her  borders  ? 

A  better  day  is  dawning  for  Western  Africa  ;  and  although  the 
present  moment  may  not  be  propitious,  although  “human  sacrifices 


*  “  Political  Economy,”  folio  08. 


26 


continue  to  deepen  the  foul  blood  stains  in  Dahomey,”  “  the  wave 
of  civilization  which  so  far  has  only  touched  some  small  isolated 
portions  of  its  shores,  will  ere  long  flow  over  it.”  * 

Liberia  must  not  be  abandoned.  However  ill  advised  the  estab¬ 
lishment  of  a  colony  under  such  climatic  obstacles  was,  or  however 
discouraging  its  past,  or  its  future  may  be.  “  Those  who  have  been 
instrumental  in  establishing  it,  and  their  posterity  especially,  are 
morally  bound  to  support  and  foster  the  unfortunate  colonists 
whom  they  have  sent  thither  under  a  mistaken  philanthropic  policy.”  t 
The  Spanish  have  a  proverb  :  “The  wise  man  changes  his  mind, 
the  fool  never.” 

We  shall  be  wise  if  we  accept  the  condition  imposed  upon  us,  and 
do  not  persist  in  crowding  upon  the  shores  of  Liberia,  ship  loads  of 
poor,  ignorant  and  improvident  Negro  laborers,  to  die  or  to 
degenerate  to  a  state  very  nearly  approaching  their  original 
barbarism,  in  the  vain  hope  that  we  shall  thus  evangelize  Africa. 

Rather  let  us  use  the  money  generously  offered  by  noble  hearted 
philanthropists,  in  educating  here  in  our  own  country,  under  the 
influence  of  our  own  institutions,  negroes,  foreign  or  domestic, 
physically  and  mentally  qualified  for  the  missionary  work,  and 
send  them  out,  under  government  patronage  and  support,  to 
establish,  in  connection  with  our  enterpising  merchants  and  heroic 
missionaries,  trading  posts  and  centres  of  religious  influence  through¬ 
out  the  “  Dark  Continent.” 

The  editor  of  the  African  Tunes  in  a  review  of  the  year 
pertinently  says :  “We  have  never  ceased  to  recognize  the  palpable 
fact  that  it  is  only  by  the  agency  of  material  means  employed  for 
the  realization  of  material  desires,  that  the  educational  element 
gradually,  but,  alas!  how  slowly  preparing,  in  the  British  West 
African  Settlements,  can  be  made  a  powerful  factor  in  African 
regeneration.”!! 

The  Republic  as  fostered  and  cherished  and  looked  upon  as  the 
hope  of  the  Christian  religion  has  narrowed  our  vision  and  contracted 
our  powers.  Liberia  is  a  mere  landing  place  on  the  great  ocean  of 
Africa,  a  starting  point  at  best. 

^London  African  Times,  January  1, 1881. 

tNew  York  Herald  Editorial,  Dec.  81, 1880. 

||London  African  Times,  January  1, 1881. 


27  • 


The  whole  world  is  now  turning  to  Africa  as  an  object  of  intense 
and  curious  interest.  England,  France,  Germany,  Italy,  Austria 
Belgium  and  Portugal  are  exploring  her  vast  water  courses,  her 
magnificent  lakes,  her  great  mountains  and  mineral  resources,  in  the 
interests  of  commerce.  Geographical  societies  are  sending  their 
private  expeditions  into  every  quarter  to  add  to  the  sum  of  our 
knowledge.  Religion,  the  handmaid  of  commerce,  is  not  behind  in 
the  race ;  increased  activity  and  enterprise  are  apparent  on  either 
hand,  and  the  missionary  and  the  merchant  will  soon  be  established 
at  the  trading  posts  in  the  very  heart  of  a  continent  hitherto  dreaded 
and  unknown.  Will  America  suffer  herself  to  be  outstripped  in  this 
contest,  and  sit  supinely  watching  the  failure  of  her  fond  aspirations 
in  the  lost  influence  and  character  of  the  Liberian  Republic  ? 


... 


.  -  •-*  ' 


.  '  M'A. 


' 


m|  mmmt 


;v 


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